Seriously the service was excellent.. from constant changing of our grill and just checking up on us if we were happy. The food is always delish.. met, stew and the yummy egg. Bf first time here and he was impressed and happy. Definitely gonna come back read more

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NEED TO KNOW!!!! Before you come here make sure you come 2 hour before posted closing! We arrived 45 minutes before and they turned us away. We were so upset. If they say they're open until 10pm they should take orders until then. If not, then post closing when the kitchen closes!! Unbelievable. We ended up going to Baekjeong who closes at the same time. No issues at all. Welcomed us completely. read more

Great service, tasty food, and overall nice ambiance, what's more to say? Highly recommend the cheesy steamed egg, it was quite nice and our party enjoyed it the most. read more

Great food and service. Classic Korean restaurant experience. Tabletop cooking but all the cooking was performed by staff.

Food was so good and has reasonable price. I had yeontan boolgogi and cheese steamed egg. I was satisfied all the food and service. I will definitely come here again. read more

Saemaeul Restaurant - Korean Near Me - Buena Park, California

I think this place is pretty mediocre but nice to try once in a while. I love their lunch box and cold noodle but meat could be better. Brisket and short rib are pretty tender, ribeye was ok, but the joomuluk was pretty bad. Service was not very memorable. Portions I'd say are pretty small but affordable. read more

This place gets it right, I have stop going to BaekJeong across the street because sometimes they are really busy. This place is similar except they do not have unlimited egg dish that comes with the meal from BaekJeong, But that is okay, why because usually most people dont eat the egg dish. They are here for the meat and the meat is apparently USDA PRIME so its high quality beef. Im not a huge pork fan so I cant really speak on the behalf of the Pork section. But everything else is great and enjoyable. read more

Decided to try this place after passing by it so many times. Unfortunately, I still haven't found a really good korean restaurant in Buena Park. Is it just me? Wifey and I shared the special small mix combo which is the most affordable combo. The 3 meat dishes were so so. The last dish was the seasoned pork skin which was, shall I say, an acquired taste. I tried one piece and couldn't continue. The taste and texture was "interesting." Wifey loves grilled pork skin, but she couldn't finish it either. The positive was that the workers are all young and super fast and attentive. They were constantly in motion, and checking often to turn the meats on your grill. read more

I haven't even had the food yet but I'm writing a review for this reason. I checked in on yelp and it offered free soda so I tried to get it but the waitress said the offer was over but wasn't taken off yelp yet. Not the kind of service I would expect from a fairly new restaurant. read more

Saemaeul Restaurant - Korean Near Me - Buena Park, California

We decided to eat here for lunch to try a new Korean place. We ordered the beef combo for $53 which is a bit pricey for lunch but it did come with three beef barbecue dishes, salad, and soup. The seaweed soup starter was very tasty with the right amount of salt. The side dishes were pretty good as well. All the beef dishes that they carefully cooked in front of us were tender and delicious. Overall food taste and quality is a solid 4 star. I just had to dock one more star due to the black house spider crawling in my salad. Unfortunately, that will leave a searing image in my mind when I think of eating here again. But everyone was apologetic and nice which makes the customer service a solid 4 star. read more

This was the first time I ventured into Buena Park for Korean food. Originally, we planned to go to a another restaurant for lunch but since they were closing soon, we opted for Saemaeul... and boy am I glad we did!! When we sat, they brought out miyukgook (seaweed soup) along with all the other banchan. I'd never repeat this to my mother but... this was probably the best miyukgook I've ever had. All the banchan were perfectly seasoned... maybe except for the myeolchi (dried anchovy) which was a tad too salty and missing that "something" for my taste. I also loved the coarse salt for the sesame oil dipping "sauce" for the meat. We ordered the pork combo and opted for the kimchi chigae... it was exactly what my belly needed. Again... probably the best kimchi chigae I've had. *please don't tell my mom. On top of all the insanely good food and spot on flavors dancing around in my mouth, the service was AH-MAYZING!!! This is the one area that is almost always lacking in other KBBQ restaurants but not here!! I loved that our servers cut the meat into perfectly even bite size pieces and flipped and cooked them to perfection. Thank you!!! I am still dreaming of all the deliciousness and can't wait to come back!!! read more

Saemaeul Restaurant - All of us in 7th heaven with the delicious food... - Korean Near Me - Buena Park, California

Came here last night to satisfy our Korean food cravings. The place was very clean and well lit, unlike most Korean restaurants in Ktown. We noticed that the menu was pretty similar to baekjong but a couple bucks cheaper. They hooked us up with some pretty sweet banchan in the beginning. Kbbq spots usually skimp on salads but this place gave a big bowl of two different types- one was just regular with cabbage and some other greens and the other had some sort of gochujang vinaigrette over it. We ordered the smoked pork bulgogi and the spicy marinated bulgogi. They were both very flavorful and tender. The quality was leagues better than AYCE kbbq. We also ordered dwenjang jiggae but it tasted pretty off. This was my first time sending anything back at a restaurant. I thought I was doing them a favor by telling them that the soup is tasting weird. They took it back and It kind of ticked me off that they thought the soup tasted okay and said that I must not be familiar with putting gochujang in dwenjang jiggae. Bogus- I know what it's suppose to taste like. Still giving 5 stars because they switched it out with kimchi jiggae instead, which had very rich kimchi flavors even though it was abnormally spicy. Service was fantastic despite the soup ordeal. Definitely will repeat. read more

Great service, food is yummy and atmosphere is feels spacious. Vents work really well, hardly had any smoke. It did get a little warm but I guess that just comes right the territory. read more

I went to this place with family and friends and I have to say it is the best Korean BBQ spot I have ever been to!! The staff was extremely kind and helpful and the portions were very generous for the price. I would highly recommend giving this place a shot if you're in the area and looking for a bite to eat. read more

Really similar to Kang Ho Dong - the food, pricing, and even the decor. I came at around 1:30 on a Sunday, so a liiiiiiittle bit after the lunch rush, so there weren't that many people. I'm not sure how it would be when it's busiest, but the service was amazing. I think we had two-three people asking if we needed anything every five minutes, which almost became kind of annoying, but they were really nice, so I felt bad for feeling that way. Haha. The food itself wasn't mind-blowing (nothing beats home-cooked KBBQ for me), but it was solid: Unmarinated Beef Ribs (I'm not sure how it's translated into English but it's the Saeng Galbi): Solid choice. Really tender and succulent. Marinated Pork Bulgogi: A little on the spicier side, but I like things spicy, so it was perfect for me. Flavorful AF. I preferred this over the beef because I'm not a meat snob/connoisseur who can appreciate good meat on its own - I need it seasoned/marinated to its core. Kimchi Jjigae - A little thicker than the traditional stew, but it was sooooo good. We got rice with it and mixed it with the seaweed strips they gave us. It has long strips of kimchi and big chunks of meat. TLDR: Solid food. Pricier than some places, but I think the quality's worth it. Great service. And you get a free soda for checking in on Yelp, so there's that. read more

Saemaeul Restaurant - Korean Near Me - Buena Park, California

This place got real busy fast. I have kids and enjoying food is an aberration. But as I was hustling to feed the kids... I was reminded of my younger days just hanging out in k-town grilling meat drinking lemon soju worrying about stupid things in life...gosh how I miss those days. But back to reality and review. We ordered the pork combo and the beef combo with steamed eggs. I have to say second visit was a winner. First time was just so so when compared to Baekjeong but I'm beginning to like this place more. I was really hesitant about this place due to low rating... But The food was great. The quality of meat was pretty good. They have a server that comes and cooks the meat so no work for you. They cook it just right and they come right back when you're done eating that portion of meat. The steam egg was over cooked... I was expecting fluffy steam eggs but was little disappointed.... but eggs are eggs...always good no matter what. The seaweed soup was complimentary side dish and was made into a meal with added rice... This location has been remodeled and replaced several times... I really hope they understand just two basic concepts....good food and good service.... make our food delicious, get it right, say thank you and smile... not that hard... (hmmm, is it easier said than done).. I'm getting some craving for this place... I'll see you soon. read more

Great service, really nice front desk people and waiters. Came here because I had a craving for kimchi jigae. Their kimchi stew is thicker than what I expected and was not as sour as I would have preferred, but still good nonetheless. I was more expecting a soup, while this is more of a paste that I could put on rice. I was happy to know that the stew came with a bowl of white rice and I didnt have to order that separately. This ended up being 8.99. The wait staff are honest with what they know and do not know. For food things they do not know, they are sure to check with the chefs before returning with an answer. Really appreciated this establishment's friendly, honest, and kind staff. While the food I ordered was not necessarily my style, I will definitely come back to try other items on the menu! read more

Reasonable pice and high quality food! You will not regret it! Family oriented! Happy Servers ! Great place to visit! 3thumbs up!!!! read more

Saemaeul Restaurant - Korean Near Me - Buena Park, California

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I don't typically write reviews for restaurants, but after screening some of these reviews, I genuinely feel that their competitor restaurants have tried to make a bad name for them, and because I think that's wrong, I will write one. My friends (a group of 4 families with 2-3 young children per family) and I came after church. We were a huge party and did not have reservations but they quickly seated us. Service was great- the staff was friendly, attentive and fast. The food was also great- really good quality meat along with fresh side dishes. I would say the quality of meat is the best kbbq I've had hands down in oc. read more

Came here for a friends birthday last week. Read some reviews saying this place was better than beakjong, so we naturally had to give it a shot. For me this place was good but not amazing like all the reviews claim. We ordered one of the small combos with the marinated short ribs, beef tongue, pork belly, brisket, and added one of the cheese eggs as well. One thing I noticed right away was the lack of side dishes. The service was good, but it did seem like our server may have been a little overwhelmed as we did have to ask for things multiple times. As far as the food the cuts of beef tongue were a little too chewy, brisket was just okay, the short rib had some bad cuts and pieces were pretty dense and chewy, the pork belly was pretty good, the cheese egg dish to me was the highlight for sure. Not sure if i came on an off day but like I said before I think this place is good but not amazing. read more

I visited this place a while back and I have to admit, I will probably not be coming back to this place. First, the service is just absolutely terrible. The workers do not know what they are supposed to be doing. They go from table to table, not handling what is needed, but seem to have their heads cut off like chicken. Second, the price. The price is more expensive as compared to kang ho dong and the mediocre portions and banchan are just not acceptable. I'm surprised the owner is not responding to these bad reviews and only responds to the good reviews. What a shame this restaurant is for the Baek Jong-won brand. I definitely hopes he sees Yelp. read more

Stopped by for dinner. Had a bit of a wait, but well worth it. First thing g you notice is it smells sooooo good when you walk in. The servers are very attentive to your every need. Everyone that walked by wanted to make sure everything was ok. Their steamed rice is to die for. Soft and coo cooked just right. I just found my new go to Korean BBQ. read more

Although other friends gave poor reviews on this restaurant owned by Chef Paik, I had to try it at least once. It was around 6 o'clock few days before Christmas but suprisingly, restaurant was very empty, whereas Bakjung would be lining up for seating. Restaurant itself was nice and clean with plentt of tables for large crowds. I noticed that the servers were not well trained: not that friendly, confused and missed couple of our orders. Food was 'okay' to 'soso', far from being great. Funny thing was they charge you for lots of things others provide at no charge; egg stew $7, they charge for small portions of additional sesame leaves if you ask for more even with an order of $90 pork combo which I thought was too much. So, all in all, this place is overpriced for sure. Four of us spent close to $200 on pork combo, few additional dishes, and some drinks. I wouldn't comback here to spend that much money. read more

I liked here in Buena park until right before covid-19. Oh my got, now they are doing the worst and terrible service with worst dried and salty foods. Servers(two ladies) were just being so lazy and whatever we want to order or want to change to table even right before seated, they were only saying no, we can't even though there was no customer. Now I know that is why there were no customer in the restaurant... They are just being so lazy and seems like they do not want to work. Maybe they need to get training or quit their job if they just want to stay only at the front. So funny and dumb with funny mixing English accent. Oh my god I was kind of very shock with their unkindness to the customers(Finally, there was one more table right next to us who just walked in alone. Servers were treating him like invisible man). I liked there before and used to be regular customer, but no more. Maybe I assume that this business will be failed soon if they use those two servers because of their rude and lazy services. I never been to the restaurant like that bad services. Also the foods were worst and totally different from before. read more

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Dear Mr. Baek, Workers here need to learn how to treat customers. We came for lunch with our babies, and while we were feeding them, there were lot of debris on the floor. We said sorry but the guys who were working there didn't say anything but mumbling and cussing like 'c-bal'. Those guys with black uniforms looking like in 20s need to be re-trained seriously. I was very shocked and hurt that I won't visit this restaurant again so as my friends with babies. read more

Excellent Korean BBQ experience! I always enjoy the places that assign a grill person to you to make sure that the meat is cooked properly, takes out the guess work! I love the combo myself and 4 others had last night. The pork belly is always a star but really enjoyed the steak, it was SO delicious and cooked to perfection. I also really appreciated that they kept the salad, kimchi, and rice flowing with ok but us even really having to ask for more. Additionally, the mango beer-rita, that I shared, was pretty good. I'm not a fan of Stella Artois but in the context of a mango slush, it was really tasty! Would definitely come back. read more

What a nice surprise to find another korrean soul food that is served! Gabee combo is best for its price and choice! They have side dish, sald and bean soup is good! Ggotsal is the best one! read more

Great place for Korean bbq! Price is very cheap for the food quality. Service is fast and friendly. I would recommend this place , I don't know why they have only 3 stars . Very strange .. read more

Food is very good with reasonable price. Service is okay too :) it is a good place for K-BBQ

This place has good food but it kinda misses the mark of the OG locations back in Korea. In Korea, Saemaeul is like a "comfort" kbbq joint. You don't get top quality cuts of meat, but it's not meant to be that kind of place. The whole concept was to be cheap and inviting, while providing solid home style staples that taste good. The location here in California however, kinda falls short. First the taste of the meat is not the same. They use the same seasoning and everything but it is missing one critical component, the shaped charcoal they use in Korea. The meat is called (Briquette Bulgogi) and they serve it without the briquette here so yeah... it's not really Briquette Bulgogi? Instead, they just have a gas fire, so you just don't get the same taste on the meat without charcoal flame charring it up. Also the prices. They prices are much higher than they are in Korea. Instead of being a cheap place, it's more like a mid-high priced place. On top of that, here in the states you have to tip so... it just makes it even more expensive. In Korea, 1 serving of the Briquette Bulgogi in 9000 won, which is around 9 bucks, no tax no tip. Here its like 14 bucks? and then you have tax and tips. Just not a very good value proposition for a restaurant that got famous for its "bang for buck" ratio. I will say though, the Kimchi jjigae they have here is super good and tastes exactly like it did back at home. Don't get me wrong, the food here is not BAD. Instead of getting excellent food for cheap prices like in Korea, here you get great food for medium prices, hence the 3 stars. read more

Saemaul - it means new town/village in Korea. An iconic word for those who were born before the 70s. Saemaul Undong (Newtown Movement) was a political initiative that was enforced by then president - Park, Jung Hee. Basically to rectify the growing economic disparity between the rural cities & Seoul. Long story short, the name Saemaul brings nostalgic feelings for older Korean generation. So Saemaul for the bbq restaurant in Korea started with the same sorta motto (at least that's what I thought it is about). Since the meat is not cheap in Korea, they wanted to make it more accessible to middle to working class Koreans. So the original place in Korea is set up like the old times to bring back that nostalgia. They were known for the reasonable prices on pork bbq. It is also well known because of the owner Baek, Jong Won (celebrity chef & entrepreneur). Sorry for the long introduction. Here comes my take on this place.... Place is obviously new. Large open dinner hall with booth and tables. Place is set up nicely. Parking can be tricky but there are spaces in the back side of the shopping center as well. Food - this is a Korean BBQ place. They specialize in yeoltan (thermal coal??) grilled meats. I loved the fact that they offer beef & pork combo menu. So the beef eaters & pork lovers are equally satisfied! They are not the cheap eats place. Budget at least $30 person. Most combo offerings are about $100 (feeds up to 4). Our total tab for the night came out to be about $150 for 4 people (including the alchohol & tip). The banchan and salads are standard. Soup was okay (soybean paste). The dipping doesn't really matter for me as I don't use any for my meats. If the meat is good, you really don't need any dipping for enhanced taste. The stand out for me - marinated beef! So tender and the marinade wasn't super sweet. I was worried because of the founder Mr. Baek's ample uses on sugar in his food (his nick name is Suga Boy). Pork - samgyupsal was on the thinner side & spicy bulgogi was bit too spicy for this spicy whimp. It is on the sweeter side too. Interesting banchan was their steamed egg. It had cheese and corn on the bottom = corn cheese steamed egg? A different twist on the classic steamed egg. What sets this type of place apart is the service. Like the other big franchise bbq restaurant across the street, they offer the table side service. Trained employees tend to your grill and help you to enjoy your meats at their optimal done-ness. So people tip well, these young ladies & men are working hard! Inhaling all that carbon monoxide.....wait, we are sitting there with them too so..we all are inhaling...guess that is the price you're willing to pay for the good bbq??? anyway, our service for the night was stellar! We enjoyed the food and the dining experience at this brand new place. Looks like I will be back soon because my hubby fell in love with this place. So hope they keep up with the demand to stay consistent with quality of service and food! ***check in for the free soda!! read more

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We came here on a Thursday night as our anniversary celebration. The quality in their food was worth the cost, I'm so glad we gave it a shot! We ordered the beef special and it was plenty for our family of 2 adults and an 8/10 year old. With 3 drinks of alcohol, our total came out to $140. read more

Better than kanghodong backjung!! Better meat,Especially service. I recommand pork combo for 2! You can enjoy every taste:) Five star:) read more

This place is not good! Vibe inside is cute and clean; looks a lot like Kang Ho Dong down the street. It's generally overpriced with a bottle of soju being $13. Some spots in Ktown sell them for $5 a bottle so that gives you an idea of the markup. My dad and I had the nengmyun (cold noodles), my mom had the nakji bokkeum and my brother had the dosirak (old school lunchbox) and we split an order of meat. The meat was good and everything else was awful. The nengmyun broth lacked flavor and the noodles were overcooked and clumped together. Nakji bokkeum tasted like something I could make out of a package and the dosirak was boring. Service is good - the servers are friendly and they cook your meat for you but generally it's not really worth a visit, especially given the price point. read more

A worthy competitor to Baek Jung skips LA and surprisingly comes straight to Buena Park from South Korea! For non-Koreans, the person who started this restaurant is Baek Jong Won, who is basically a famous food enthusiast in Korea. He has multiple cooking shows and restaurants in Korea. Anyway, enough talk, let's get to the food. -7 minute kimchi jjigeh: oh my lord, the best thing on the menu. It's spicy but reasonable. You scoop it onto rice and sprinkle seaweed on top of it. So simple, yet so delish. And the rice portions are huge, way bigger than a standard rice bowl you get from all other Korean restaurants -Pork bulgogi: so this is a unique dish bc bulgogi is always made with beef in Korea. It's spicy, and not reasonable -Neng myun: huge portions, tastes good enough -Dwenjang jjigeh: yum -Cha dol: standard -Galbi: good! -Makgeoli: contrary to expectations, this is not a bottle! It's in individual glass with a straw (a big glass though) Service was SUPERB! They apologized politely when a glass fell and cracked near me, they were amenable to order changes, and they were generally friendly when serving. All in all, the meat quality isn't as good as Baek Jung, but it makes up for that with uniqueness. read more

I really like this place. I don't know why their rating here is so low. I've been here three times so far. I had the beef & pork combo, steamed egg, kimchi stew, 7-min kimchi stew, cold noodle, yeoltan pork, marinated pork ribs, soybean stew, lunchbox, and seafood pancake. All tasted good. I love the marinated pork ribs the best. Service was great. read more

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Exceeded expectations. I think this is a new business, and the previous occupants have come and gone. I hope this one is here to stay. Great menu and very helpful staff. We ordered the Beef combo with a few cold noodles. It only came out to 100 bucks which is very cheap for the amount of food we got. Our waitress cooked all of our meat for us, and changed the grill multiple times. Certain cuts required specific grill pans which was neat. Definitely will be back. -B read more

I just wanted to to say the manager did follow up and I was informed this particular server did not inform the manager or anyone else what happened. Although, there were a few other servers who saw the whole incident as well but the server whose apron got stuck on my dads causing him to fall backwards was covering for our primary server during his break and apparently he had no idea this happened. So I will say that explains a lot as to way he acted like nothing happened. The manager was apologetic to my husband who called them back and asked us to dine again. We won't be because this review was never to get anything out of this. My dad's back still hurts because of what happened but he is an understanding person who realizes that it was accidental in nature. Moving forward I hope the staff learns to be more careful and not move so quickly even if they are busy because the safety of everyone at the restaurant should always come first. read more

I really had high hopes for this place. Ordered "seafood pajeon" and a dolsot bibimbap. After taking a bite of the veggies in the bibimbap, I realized the veggies were completely inedible/rotten. I asked them to take it back to the kitchen and figure out how they could possibly think it's ok to serve this to customers. They came back out after 10 minutes and all they said was sorry, offering to replace with something else (lol no thanks). Seafood pajeon had 2 tiny slivers of "seafood". Btw they charged us full price at the end. LOL read more

This is my first ever review on Yelp, but after visiting this place, I was compelled to write one. A friend who lived in Korea mentioned this place, and I went in the day after they opened, with somewhat high expectation. I really don't know what the owner is thinking. The food is mediocre at best (just go to a Korean market near by and spend 1/10th), portions are small, and 50% overpriced. And if that's not enough, soju is more expensive, and they charge for everything (eggs, kimchi stew, and leafs, and rice, etc.) that is complimentary at Baekjung across the street. Oh, wait...but water was free... I wouldn't go again even if they cut their prices in half. We went as a party of 4 and all of us felt the same way, but a couple brave enough went back the next day, and needless to say, their experience was not any better the second time around. I dare them to go back the third time... read more